Patent Application
20220364746
The disclosure relates to mist makers, and more particularly relates to a mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation and/or featuring airflow drifting, which enables mist to drift within a preset flow zone to create a special visual effect, and/or reduces condensation of the mist overflowing out of the flow zone with a forced airflow to avoid formation of water stain on a worktop.
Conventional mist makers come in a variety of types. One type is humidifiers, serving for indoor humidity control. A more sophisticated humidifier is equipped with a humidity sensing element and in the case that the room is overly dry, adds moisture to the air to restore indoor humidity to a comfortable level. A simpler humidifier only provides a mist outlet nozzle for example on top, with the mist being jetted upward, wherein the high-moisture air or the mist, when being evaporated from fine droplets and entering the air, will absorb partial heat in the air, rendering a cooler feeling to people.
Aroma diffuser is another type of mist maker, serving to add spice to the life. This type of mist makers usually has an ultrasonic oscillator. A user may drop essential oil on the water surface, such that the ultrasonic oscillator soaked in the water vibrates and atomizes the essential oil and the water together, wherein tiny droplets of perfumed water are pushed out upwardly via a mist outlet nozzle projecting from the mist maker, whereby to achieve the effects of air humidification and aroma dispersion. The water moisture that can be held in the air is certain under given atmospheric pressure and temperature. From the perspective of science, the maximum amount of water vapor that can be held in the air is defined as saturation humidity or 100% relative humidity, while the humidity level at any given time in a space is measured relative to the 100% saturation humidity. Once the humidity in the air approaches saturation, the excess vapor water will be changed into liquid water. For example, in the evening when air cools down, its capacity to hold water vapor decreases, such that the originally unsaturated air becomes saturated, and the excess water vapor will be condensed on the exterior of buildings, rocks, and leaves of plants. This phenomenon is generally referred to as getting damp. The frequently damped articles easily get moldy, mossy, rotten (in cases of wood articles), and rusty (in cases of metal).
Although the two types of mist makers differ somewhat from each other in functionality, the mist generation mechanisms they apply are the same. The jetted mist is substantially fine water droplets. After the mist is jetted upward via a mist outlet nozzle on top, the air humidity around the mist outlet nozzle becomes oversaturated and fails to be evaporated smoothly and completely, and the excess amount of the mist will be condensed into liquid water and fall slowly on the desk top or ground around the mist maker due to gravity, damping the desk top or the ground, which will not only cause water stains on the desk top, but also cause damages to the desk top, the books and stationary thereon, as well as the furniture nearby; in worse cases, the wetted ground nearby will cause accidents such as slip.
In addition, the mist outlet nozzle of conventional mist makers generally faces upward, such that the produced mist flows and diffuses upward, resembling a monotonous smoking chimney. However, it is always a desire for a user of the mist maker to create a comfortable and relaxing indoor atmosphere, while the monotonous mist emission pattern compromises the overall setting. Particularly, after the mist is condensed on the desktop due to poor diffusion of water vaper and overly high humidity around the mist maker, the contact area between the mist and the air significantly decreases, which reduces the amount of essential oil volatized to the air within a unit time and delays the time of dispersing the essential oil molecules to the entire indoor environment, thereby slowing down the time of aroma diffusion to reach a preset concentration level in the entire indoor environment. This is substantially a waste of the served essential oil; besides, it takes a long time to render a desired aromatic atmosphere.
A mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation is provided, which leverages forced airflow to forcibly disperse high-moisture air or draw the high-moisture air back into the mist maker, so as to avoid moisture condensation around the mist maker due to moisture oversaturation.
A mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation is provided, which enables dispersion of the mist towards all directions distant from the mist maker, such that essential oil in the mist may be quickly volatized and diffused to the entire indoor environment, thereby achieving rapid aroma diffusion.
A mist maker featuring airflow drifting is provided, which leverages a flow zone enclosed by a surrounding wall edge, a tilted mist outlet nozzle, and a miniaturized landscape zone having at least one tilted side, the direction of the mist outlet nozzle facing the miniaturized landscape zone, to enable the mist to drift in the flow zone to create a mist-enveloped scene, thereby solving the problem of overly monotonous mist pattern of conventional mist makers.
In an aspect of the disclosure, a mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation comprises: a hollow water-proof housing, a base, an atomizer, and an air blowing device, wherein the hollow water-proof housing is formed with an accommodation space and has a pedestal, the pedestal being disposed on a worktop, an opening being provided on top of the accommodation space, the accommodation space being configured for accommodating liquid. The base at least partially covers the opening, and the hollow water-proof housing and/or the base are formed with a shaped portion whose projection direction corresponds to the opening, the shaped portion comprising a surrounding wall edge and a flow zone enclosed by the surrounding wall edge; wherein the hollow water-proof housing and/or the base are formed with at least one mist outlet nozzle corresponding to the flow zone. The atomizer is disposed in the hollow water-proof housing and/or the base, configured to atomize the liquid accommodated in the accommodation space and push the atomized liquid out via the mist outlet nozzle. The air blowing device is disposed at the hollow water-proof housing and/or the base to produce a forced airflow, the forced airflow flowing radially above the worktop but below the surrounding edge wall.
Since the forced airflow flows radially above but below the surrounding wall edge, the mist may be pushed radially distant from the mist maker; in this way, even the air around the mist maker has built up to a saturation humidity or an oversaturated state, its relative humidity is still lowered due to airflow dispersion, thereby preventing condensation of water droplets around the mist maker on the desktop or the ground from damaging the furniture or the surroundings; of course, the forced airflow may also be a high-moisture airflow drawn back to the humidifier so as to confine the overflow extent and avoid over-moisture of the external environment. In addition, the mist from the mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation according to the disclosure does not condense on the desktop or the ground; instead, it may maintain the misty state or be absorbed by air, such that the mist has a relatively large contact area with the air; in this way, the essential oil ingredient in the mist may be extensively and quickly volatized to the air and dispersed to the entire indoor environment, rapidly rendering a preset aromatic smell to the user. Conventional humidifiers do not have an air blowing device, such that even in a relatively dry environment, the mist flowing out of such humidifiers is still accumulated around the humidifier, causing water accumulation. The mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation according to the disclosure leverages the forced airflow to carry the mist radially away from the humidifier or draw the mist back to the humidifier in all directions, thereby avoiding water accumulation arising from the over-moisture air around the humidifier.
In a further aspect of the disclosure, a mist maker featuring airflow drifting comprises: a hollow water-proof housing, a base, an atomizer, and an air blowing device. The hollow water-proof housing is formed with an accommodation space and has a pedestal, the pedestal being disposed on a worktop, an opening being formed on top of the accommodation space, wherein the accommodation space is configured to accommodate liquid. The base is configured to at least partially cover the opening, the hollow water-proof housing and/or the base being provided with a shaped portion whose projection direction corresponds to the opening, the shaped portion comprising a surrounding wall edge, a flow zone enclosed by the surrounding wall edge, and a miniaturized landscape zone having at least one tilted face; wherein the hollow water-proof housing and/or the base are formed with at least one mist outlet nozzle corresponding to the flow zone, wherein the at least one mist outlet nozzle is tilted and faces the miniaturized landscape zone. The atomizer is disposed in the hollow water-proof housing and/or the base, configured to atomize the liquid accommodated in the accommodation space and push the atomized mist out via the at least one mist outlet nozzle. The air blowing device is disposed at the hollow water-proof housing and/or the base, configured to form a forced airflow.
Furthermore, a special visual effect may be created in conjunction with the miniaturized landscape design of the mist maker when the mist drifts in the flow zone defined by the mist maker structure, which also renders a relaxing and pleasing atmosphere desirable to the user. Additionally, the mist maker according to the disclosure enables both of reduced moisture condensation and mist drifting, such that even when producing an aromatic mist in a moisture indoor environment, the mist maker can still avoid water accumulation using the forced airflow, as well as creating a mist drifting visual effect. Therefore, besides the capability of atomizing perfumed water and diffusing the essential oil carried by mist droplets to the indoor environment like conventional technologies, the mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation and/or featuring airflow drifting according to the disclosure further resolves the drawbacks of conventional mist makers such as monotonous mist pattern and proneness to water accumulation on a desktop or the ground.
The pedestal 11 of the hollow water-proof housing 10 may be disposed on top of furniture such as a desk or a cabinet. To facilitate illustration, the desk top or cabinet top is defined herein as a worktop 5. The pedestal 11 in this example comprises a plurality of support portions 112 and a raised portion 113 supported by the support portions 112 such that when the pedestal 11 is disposed on the worktop 5, the support portions 112 contact the worktop 5, with an interval being provided between the raised portion 113 and the worktop 5. To those of normal skill in the art, it is easily understood that the pedestal 11 may also have a planar bottom so as to be directly placed on the worktop 5.
The pedestal 11 in this example further comprises a tapered first surrounding wall 114 connected over the raised portion 113, a holding portion 115 extending radially horizontally from the top of the first surrounding wall 114, and a straight second surrounding wall 116 connected to the outer end edge of the holding portion 115; the top 12 comprises a bottom plate 122 and a straight outer peripheral wall 123 connected to the bottom plate 122; the outer peripheral wall 123 and the bottom plate 122 enclose the accommodation space 121, wherein the accommodation space 121 may be configured to accommodate perfumed water or simply accommodate water; moreover, an upward opening is formed at the top end edge of the outer peripheral wall 123.
The profile of the outer peripheral wall 123 of the top 12 agrees with the second surrounding wall 116 of the pedestal 11; therefore, the bottom plate 122 of the top 12 may be held by the holding portion 115 of the pedestal 11, and the outer peripheral wall 123 of the top 12 and the second surrounding wall 116 of the pedestal 11 are tightly fitted to prevent the water solution in the accommodation space 121 from leaking into the water-proof interlayer 111; or, a liquid-tight O-ring may be provided between the outer peripheral wall 123 and the second surrounding wall 116. To facilitate installation of the base 20, the top end of the second surrounding wall 116 is higher than the top end of the outer peripheral wall 123 in this example.
An annular groove 21 is formed at the lower surface of the base 20; the profile of the annular groove 21 agrees with that of the second surrounding wall 116, such that by sleeving the annular groove 21 on the top end of the second surrounding wall 116, the base 20 may be positioned at the pedestal 11 of the hollow water-proof housing 10. A shaped portion 22 is provided on the upper surface of the base 20. The shaped portion 22 comprises a surrounding wall edge 221, a flow zone 222 enclosed by the surrounding wall edge 221, and a miniaturized landscape zone 223 disposed in the flow zone and having one or more tilted faces. The shape of the miniaturized landscape zone 223 may vary dependent on the desired atmosphere to create. For example, the miniaturized landscape may resemble a high-standing mountain, such that the mist drifting around the mountain may enhance concentration and refresh spirits; the miniaturized landscape may resemble a remote and ancient valley, wherein the mist lingers around the valley to promote a deep sleep; and the miniaturized landscape may alternatively resemble a lake with islands, wherein the mist hovers the lake and islands to render a deep relaxation. Of course, to promote market acceptance, a local representative landscape may be selected as the shaped portion.
To achieve light weight and save materials, the lower surface of the base 20 may have a profile corresponding to the upper surface. As illustrated in
Although the base 20 in this example is formed by a water-proof plastic material; those skilled in the art may easily understand that the base 20 may select a material such as a ceramic or acrylic material, and even a water permeable material, which constitutes no limitation to implementation of the disclosure. In this example, the mist outlet nozzles 23a, 23b are circular holes, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The mist outlet nozzles may be of a slit or any other shape, which may also be disposed at the surrounding wall edge 221. In addition, the mist outlet nozzles may also be disposed at a higher position of the miniaturized landscape zone 223; moreover, the axial direction of the mist outlet nozzles faces an angle lower than the horizontal plane, such that the mist flows towards the flow zone 222, which constitutes no limitation to implementation of the disclosure either.
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The mist maker 1 in this example further comprises an atomizer 30 which is disposed in the accommodation space 121 accommodating the essential oil-water solution. The atomizer 30 may be an ultrasonic oscillator, wherein the water solution is atomized into tiny liquid droplets by ultrasonic waves; the atomizer 30 may optionally be a Venturi tube, which accelerates the airflow and facilitates atomization of the essential oil-water solution. The disclosure has no limitation on the atomizer, as long as it can atomize the essential oil-water solution. In addition, considering that while the atomizer 30 is atomizing tiny liquid droplets, the mist might be blocked by the miniaturized landscape zone 223 or other covering above to condense and the condensed water droplets might fall down and flow back into the atomizer 30, which may affect service life of the circuit of the atomizer 30, in this example, a water-proof hood 35 is additionally provided above the atomizer 30 to shelter from the falling condensed water droplets. In this example, the atomizer is disposed at the top 12 of the hollow water-proof housing 10. To those skilled in the art, it is understood that the atomizer may be optionally disposed at the lower surface of the base 20, or a plurality of atomizers are disposed at the top 12 of the hollow water-proof housing 10 and the lower surface of the base 20, respectively.
In this example, the mist maker 1 further comprises an air blowing device 40 configured to produce a forced airflow, wherein the air blowing device 40 is disposed in the water-proof interlayer 111 between the pedestal 11 and the top 12 of the hollow water-proof housing 10. The forced airflow produced by the air blowing device 40 enters a mist-enveloped accommodation space 121 via an appropriate flow channel, pushing the mist to flow out via the mist outlet nozzles 23a, 23b and recirculate in the flow zone 222. Additionally, as illustrated in
In this way, besides enabling the mist to generate a drifting effect in the flow zone 222, the mist maker 1 in this example may also carry the mist farther away via the forced airflow, thereby decreasing the relative humidity in the area around the mist maker 1 and avoiding water accumulation.
To those of normal skill in the art, the base may also be a flat cover, wherein the mist flows out via the mist outlet nozzles, while the forced airflow produced by the air blowing device carriers the mist farther away, thereby lowering the moisture around the mist maker and avoiding water accumulation, i.e., the mist maker only produces a forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation, which does not provide an airflow drifting effect.
To those of normal skill in the art, if the base 20 has the structure illustrated in
In the mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation as disclosed, the forced airflow produced by the air blowing device flows radially above the worktop but lower than the surrounding wall edge, allowing for the mist to flow towards all directions farther away from the mist maker, such that the mist may be absorbed by the distant air which has not built up to the saturation humidity, thereby avoiding the mist, which cannot be absorbed by the oversaturated air around the mist maker, from condensing on the desktop or the ground. In addition, since the mist from the mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation according to the disclosure does not condense on the desktop or the ground, but may remain in the misty state or be adsorbed by air, the mist has a relatively large contact area with the air, such that the essential oil ingredient in the mist may be extensively and quickly volatized to the air and dispersed to the entire indoor environment, rapidly rendering a preset aromatic smell to the user. Conventional humidifiers do not have an air blowing device, such that even in a relatively dry environment, the mist flowing out of such humidifiers is still built up around the humidifier, causing water accumulation. The mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation according to the disclosure leverages the forced airflow to carry the mist radially away from the humidifier or draw the mist back to the humidifier in all directions, thereby avoiding water accumulation arising from the oversaturated air around the humidifier.
Furthermore, by allowing the mist to drift in the flow zone confined by the mist maker structure and in conjunction with a special profile of the mist maker, the mist maker featuring airflow drifting according to the disclosure may create a special visual effect and provide the user a desired relaxing and pleasant atmosphere. Additionally, the mist maker according to the disclosure features both forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation and mist drifting, such that even the indoor environment is somewhat damp, when the mist maker is producing an aromatic mist, not only a mist drifting visual effect is created, water accumulation can also be avoided thanks to the forced airflow. Therefore, besides the capability of atomizing perfumed water and diffusing the essential oil carried by mist droplets to the indoor environment like conventional technologies, the mist maker featuring forced airflow to reduce moisture condensation and/or featuring airflow drifting according to the disclosure further resolves the drawbacks of conventional mist makers such as monotonous mist pattern and proneness to water accumulation on a desktop or the ground.
What have been described above are only embodiments of the disclosure, which cannot be construed as limitations to the scope of the disclosure. Any simple equivalent variations and modifications made based on the contents in the appended claims and specification shall fall within the scope of the disclosure. Through the description in the embodiments of the disclosure, those skilled in the art may understand that the disclosure is novel, represents progress, and has industrial practicality and thus has a value for development.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110117255 | May 2021 | TW | national |
